A Slightly Frosty Valentine
by The Great Karasu
Summary: A few years back, in a different part of the house, and author created a one-shot about a Meatball-headed schoolgirl and the conceited jerk who loved her...GAG! This is something I threw together about Darien and Serena's first Valentine's Day together.


"Please?"

"No way!"

"It's only once a year, come on!"

"It's just a stupid holiday dreamed up by card and candy makers to drain the fundage out of poor, stupid, lovesick saps."

"Does that mean you'll come?"

Darien looked up with an annoyed expression at his friend's cool, sarcastic smile. 'Man, that smile is irritating!' "Andrew, if I've said it once, I've said it a million times. And I'll say it again, NO WAY! I'm not going to some stupid party of yours for Valentine's Day."

"What if I told you that everyone will be there?" Andrew offered as he continued to wipe down the counter at the Crown Arcade with a towel.

"Well, in that case," Darien pondered sarcastically. "When hell freezes over! Why are you so stubborn?"

"Because, Darien," Andrew said as he stopped wiping the counter and leaned on it. "You need to get out and have some fun every now and then."

"I do get out and have fun," he replied as he took a gulp of his coffee. As he withdrew the mug, he smirked at his friend.

Andrew rolled his eyes. "Coming here everyday just to tease Serena isn't what I mean. In fact, it's kinda pathetic. I mean look at you. You're a successful college student with a great job, a cool car, and girls practically fall over themselves to get at you. Yet somehow, you've managed to remain unattached. Why is that?"

Darien shrugged as he leaned on the counter opposite from Andrew. "Haven't met the right girl, I guess."

"Not like you'd have given any of them a chance anyway," Andrew muttered as he went around the counter to take the orders of five girls who had just settled themselves into a booth not far away. He sighed as he approached the table, and then he realized who was sitting there.

"Why the long face, Andrew?" asked Lita as a slight blush crept across her cheeks.

"It's just Darien," he replied with a slight smile and a gesture back towards Darien. "I think he isolates himself on purpose just to aggravate me."

"You didn't invite him to your party tomorrow, did you?" Serena asked seriously as she pushed her little body across the table to look Andrew in the eye.

He chuckled in amusement. "I tried to, but he wouldn't have any part of it."

Serena sighed as she settled herself back in her seat. "That's a relief. I don't want that conceited jerk ruining my Valentine's Day!"

"That's kinda harsh, don't you think?" Amy asked as she looked over her math book across the table at Serena.

"Well," she replied with her nose in the air. "Anybody that makes as much fun of me as he does deserves it!"

Darien, who had been trying to ignore Serena and her friends' conversation, winced at the venom in Serena's voice. Amy was right, that WAS harsh. He tried to tune that out as he rose and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans as he turned to leave the arcade.

"Speaking of my party," Andrew piped up. "Are you guys gonna be able to make it?"

"I wouldn't miss it, Andrew," Lita replied with hearts in her eyes.

"I don't know if Grandpa will let me that night," Raye said softly. "He doesn't usually like me to be out very late on a school night, but I'll try to be there!"

"I'll be there!" Mina exclaimed proudly, for she was never one to miss a good party. "And I'll drag Amy kicking and screaming if I have to!"

"Mina!" Amy exclaimed as the blonde seized her math book. Mina stood on the booth seat and extended her arm as high over her head as it would go. The other three girls were giggling hysterically. "Come on! Grow up! I need to study for the next week if I'm going to pass my advanced astrophysical geometry test!"

Raye gawked at the blue-haired girl climbing up on the seat to try to retrieve the revered book. "As if you couldn't pass that test in your sleep!" The other girls agreed furiously. A red-faced Amy sat back down.

"Besides, you need to get out and have some fun every now and then!" Mina chirped as she plopped back into her seat, still refusing to return the book.

Darien chuckled a bit at the display as he stepped on the sensor that cued the large glass door to slide open.

"So, what about you, Serena?" Andrew asked after the giggling had subsided a bit.

That stopped Darien in his tracks. His eyes darted back over to the booth as Serena's laughter began to subside. 'Beautiful, silvery laughter.' Darien mentally cursed himself for being so corny.

Serena paused to wipe a tear from her eye as she calmed down from her fit of laughter. "Oh, Andrew, you know I'd never miss a party!"

That clinched it. He couldn't move his eyes away from her, not that he wanted to. He was only marginally aware that Andrew had walked up to him and began talking to him.

"Hello in there!" Andrew waved his hand in front of Darien's dazed face. "Earth to Darien!" Darien blinked twice and then turned to his friend. "Well?"

Darien gulped loudly. "I think hell's just gotten a few thousand degrees colder."

Andrew crowed triumphantly. "I knew it! You have been so gone on that girl for who knows how long! See ya tomorrow at my place at 7:30 SHARP!" He gave Darien a congratulatory slap on the back as he walked away to fill the girls' orders.

Darien wished that Andrew wasn't so loud. Practically the whole arcade was now aware of the secret he had kept closely guarded for a long time. He looked back over at Serena, whose eyes were now holding an expression of confusion. He decided to make his escape a little smoother and tossed on a cocky smirk. "See ya tomorrow night, Meatball Head!"

If only he had not used that dreaded name. Serena had been drawn into his eyes as he stood there after Andrew had exposed his secret to the world. 'Who could it be that he's been gone for?' she wondered. But he did look cute standing there like a poor wet puppy dog. And even when he tossed on that annoying cocky smile that, for some unexplainable reason, made her want to melt. She had even felt a tinge of color stain her cheeks. But the moment had ended when he used the demeaning M-word.

She leaned back into the booth and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I'd rather be trapped in a meat locker than be stuck at a Valentine's party with YOU."

Wow. She'd been two for two that night. Darien visibly winced from the verbal assault. It was a good thing  
she was just too adorable when she was angry, or else he would have had to run out of there. Instead, he decided to have the last word. "Be careful what you wish for, Meatball Head. Besides, it may not be as bad as you think!"

And with that, he was gone.

"Gee, he sure brings out the best in you, Meatball Head," Raye teased.

Serena narrowed her eyes to the raven-haired girl next to her. "Don't you start, Pyro. I don't need it coming from you too."

"Serena, RELAX," Lita said as she leaned over the table, ducking Mina's elbow as she drew it back to keep the book away from Amy. "It's so unlike you to be so vicious."

"Yeah, for real," Mina said as she stopped fighting Amy. Amy lunged at her and grabbed the book roughly away. She smoothed down her hair and opened the book to the exact spot she had left off. "You're meaner to him than you are some of the nega-monsters we face."

"Which is strange," Amy added. "Because you blush a lot more when you're around him than when we're facing enemies." She immediately clasped a hand over her mouth as soon as she realized what she had said. Four other sets of eyes were glued to her as if she was a side show freak.

Seconds later, Raye, Lita, and Mina broke down in hilarious laughter. Serena, however, was not amused. She unfolded her arms as she tried to get up to leave, but an incapacitated Raye couldn't move out of her way. She flopped back down and sighed. "Okay you guys, it wasn't THAT funny."

"Yes it was!" cried Mina, Lita, and Raye at the same time. They were all coughing and sputtering to get air into their deprived lungs.

Andrew came back to their table holding a tray of various ice cream dishes, and moved out of the way just as Lita fell out of the booth onto the floor. Mina and Raye clasped their hands over their mouths to try to regain their composure as Serena leaned over the table to see if Lita was okay.

"Lita? Are you okay? Are you hurt? Are you gonna die?" She began to whimper.

"Calm down, Serena," Andrew said as he laid the tray on the table and bent down to retrieve Lita. "She's gonna be fine."

Lita, meanwhile was still giggling, but sobered quickly as she realized that Andrew was offering her his hand to help her up. "Are you okay, Lita? That was a most graceful tumble you took." Andrew winked at her.

Her already flushed face reddened even deeper as she took his hand and was helped up. She smiled and nodded. "I'm fine, thanks, Andrew."

He smiled back as he went to the tray and handed out the frozen treats to the girls. "What was so funny out here?"

"Nothing!" Serena said as she sat back down. "They're just being really mean to me!"

"Ah," Andrew mused. "How were they being mean to you?"

"Amy told her that even though she's really mean to Darien, everyone can see right past it because she blushes so much." Mina blurted.

Andrew had to hold the tray in front of his face to block the chuckle. She was almost as obvious as Darien was. "I see."

"Okay, that's it," Serena said as she got up for the final time and climbed over Raye, who choked on a cherry as Serena's foot unceremoniously met with her ribs. Lita eyeballed Serena's forgotten sundae. "You guys have your fun. I'm going to home to study now." She raised her nose into the air as she strolled gracefully towards the door. She wasn't watching where she was going.

"Serena!" Andrew cried. "Look out!"

WHAM! THUNK!

She rubbed her head as well as her rear end that she had gracefully fallen upon after she had ricocheted off of something. She caught her breath as her vision cleared and she was looking into a pair of deep, dark blue eyes framed by soft, black bangs. 'Who cares if he's a conceited jerk?' she thought. 'I'd really hate to admit it, but he's a babe!'

"Are you okay, Me--..." Darien caught himself before he said something he'd regret. "...Serena?"

"I think so," she replied. She accepted his hand and he pulled her gently off the floor to her feet. "Woah, wait a minute. What happened to you, Darien? A few seconds ago, you were a complete dork. Now, you're concerned about me being okay?"

Darien had to smile. "Actually, I forgot my wallet," he replied as he moved towards the counter and picked up the billfold. "So technically, it was my fault this time."

"Oh," she replied with a slight hint of disappointment. Suddenly, she felt a pang of guilt for the whole meat locker comment earlier. Maybe he wasn't as bad as she thought he was.

"Well, see ya tomorrow at the party," he said as he moved past her towards the door. He paused and regarded her to speak again. "That is, if you don't crash into me first, Meatball Head." He laughed as he exited.

Then again...

The next day, Serena woke with a start as her alarm clock fell off of its usual perch on the shelf above her bed and landed right on her head. She sprang up from her slumber and turned to look at the shelf. What she saw was a grinning black cat sitting in the alarm clock's former resting place, with one front paw extended.

"Rise and shine, Serena," Luna said as she lowered her paw. "You're going to be late for school."

Serena contemplated beaning Luna with the clock, but instead, she looked at its face quickly. "AUUGGH! And I have about a thousand tests today!" She quickly brushed her teeth while simultaneously combing her long blonde hair and attempting to change clothes. She was still straightening her school uniform as she dashed down the stairs. She grabbed her bag and was hopping around trying to slip into her shoes as she grabbed the front doorknob. "Bye-Mom-gotta-run-see-you-later!"

The front door slammed shut behind the blonde tornado as her mother walked around the corner holding Serena's bunny lunch bag. "Not again," she sighed as she laid the bag on the counter. "I'll just have to take it to her later."

Luna rolled her eyes from her perch at the top of the stairs. 'That girl would forget her head if it weren't screwed on right.' She strolled down the stairs and leapt up onto the counter.

Serena's mother heard the front door open and close as she rounded the corner again. She noticed that Serena's lunch was gone. "Huh, she must've realized that she forgot it and came back." She sighed and wondered what she had done to have such an absent-minded daughter as she began to tackle her chores for the day.  
  
------------------------------

Luna tightened her jaw's grip on the lunch sack as she bolted down the street after her ward. She found her soon, not surprisingly, on the ground arguing with a tall, black haired man.

"Come on, Meatball Head," Darien said as he extended his hand to help her up. "You're already totally late for school."

Serena just grumbled as she ignored his hand and pulled herself up. "I am not! I still have...AAAAA! Thirty seconds! I can make it!" With that, she took off at hyper speed down the street leaving a thick trail of dust behind her.

Darien sighed as he noticed Serena's cat carrying her lunch bag. She stopped and dropped the sack, sitting down on the sidewalk. The cat seemed to look up at him and glare as best a cat could.

"All right," Darien said to her, not expecting an answer. "What do you suggest I do?" He swore he saw the cat sigh and roll her eyes towards the lunch bag decorated with bunnies.

"So how do you think you did on the math test, Serena?" asked Molly as she opened her lunch and began to nibble on a slice of apple.

Serena's stomach replied with a very loud and angry growl. She groaned and rested her head on her knees. "I don't even want to think about it. That or my detention this afternoon."

"Hey guys," Lita said as she and Amy approached the tree that Molly and Serena were sitting under. "Was it just me, or was that science test pure torture?"

Serena groaned again, not lifting her eyes. "I don't want to think about that, either."

"Serena, are you okay?" asked Amy worriedly as she settled herself on the grass next to Serena. "Have you eaten anything?"

Serena raised her head to show a sunken, and slightly pale complexion. She was about to say something as something else caught her attention. A voice was calling to her...a deep, male voice.

"Hey Meatball Head!" The four girls' eyes turned to the chain-link fence where Darien stood waving Serena's lunch. "Did you forget something today?"

Serena ran the short distance to where her lunch was being dangled over the fence. Darien let it drop as soon as she put her hands out for it. She nuzzled it like it was a tiny, fragile kitten. She then opened it unceremoniously and began digging into the tidbits that her mother so lovingly prepared for her.

"Thank you thank you thank you," she murmured around mouthfuls of food.

"No problem," he replied with a smile as he stepped away from the fence. He turned to walk away. "Just be more careful, Meatball Head."

She turned to walk back to the tree, when she realized what he had gotten away with calling her. She spun around and shouted after him. "HEY! DON'T CALL ME MEATBALL HEAD!" She heard his laughter from clear down the street.

"Wow," Molly said as Serena flopped back onto the grass beside her. "He went way out of his way to give that to you. He didn't have to do that."

"Yeah," Lita replied, nudging Amy. "He must really like you."

"Whatever," Serena replied as she began shoveling food into her mouth.

The other three girls sighed and giggled. "So, Molly," Amy said. "Are you going to be at Andrew's party tonight?"

Molly sighed as she gathered her garbage together. "Can't. My mom and I are going to have a special dinner tonight. Besides, if Melvin's gonna be there, I'd rather have tarantulas slowly creep up my arms."

"I heard he's staying home so he can play 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' with his parents," Lita declared as she chewed on a rice cake. "I heard him say that they actually play for money."

Serena shook her head. "What a nerd."

Just then, the bell rang and the four girls stood and brushed themselves off. "So are we still on for last-minute shopping after school, Serena?" Lita asked as they walked back towards the school building. "We have to get Amy a dress," she added with a wink. Amy just blushed.

"I have detention after school," Serena replied. "I'll meet you at the arcade after that, okay?"

"Serena, you should really try to be more punctual," Amy gently scolded."

"I don't see what getting poked has to do with getting to school on time," Serena said, matter-of-factly.

"Punctual." Lita sweat dropped. "Not punctured. Which reminds me. We'd better hurry so we won't miss the grammar test!" She grasped a less-than-enthusiastic Serena's wrist and dragged her into the building.  
  
"How do I let Andrew talk me into these things?" Darien said to himself as he strolled down the sidewalk. He had decided to take a walk before he got ready for the party to clear his head. Constantly through the day, he remembered Serena's happy face when she had received her lunch that afternoon. He knew that she was only happy to have received her meal, but he was sure that he could fool himself into believing that she was that happy to see him. A sad smile donned his handsome face as he sighed.

Just then, he noticed Serena flying around the corner ahead of him, obviously late for something again. His smile broadened, and prepared for the impending collision. To his surprise, it never came. She had stopped in front of a store building and was looking inside the curiously open door. Suddenly, tentacles shot out from inside, wrapped around her waist and dragged her screaming into the store.

"SERENA!" he shouted as he ran towards the open door. What he saw almost made him sick to his stomach. A slimy, green, glowing nega-monster had Serena in its clutches and was chanting a demand for her energy. He paused long enough to transform into Tuxedo Mask before charging headlong into the store.

He let fly several roses that sliced right through the monster's tentacles, freeing Serena. He rushed to catch her before she hit the ground. "Are you okay?" he asked her.

"Tuxedo Mask?" she asked incredulously, yet weakly. Her eyes shot open as she saw something behind him. "Look out! Behind you!"

He turned just in time to see another tentacle lash out and wrap itself around his neck. He struggled to no avail, and the monster was soon holding him up off the ground. Blood rushed to his head, and he knew that he'd be in trouble if he didn't get out of that soon.

"TUXEDO MASK!" Serena screamed from behind him.

"Serena," he croaked as he tried to turn to look her in the eye. "Get out of here. Get help." It stunned her that he knew her name, but the shock wore off quickly. "No! I can't leave you here!" She then shot her hand up in the air and shouted, "MOON PRISM...POWER!"

Both the nega-monster and Tuxedo Mask were stunned to see Serena transform amidst an array of ribbons and light into Sailor Moon. The monster was the first to respond, however, by hurling a tentacle in her direction.

Sailor Moon expertly dodged the attack as she reached for her tiara. As soon as she had gathered enough energy, she began the mantra for her attack. "Moon Tiara..." Her tiara became a glowing disk and as she let it fly, she shouted, "MAGIC!" The powerful projectile sliced through the tentacle that held Tuxedo Mask, and it was her turn to dive for him.  
  
"Tuxedo Mask?" she asked, hoping that he was still conscious. She gripped his shoulders tightly, and felt him cough and gasp for air.

He responded a few seconds later, comforted by her strong and protective hold on him. "Thank you, Sailor Moon. Now, let's finish this thing off."

The monster chuckled evilly. "Not likely. You see, I like my meals well chilled." It summoned up a great amount of energy and blasted both Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask backward into an open meat freezer. The door slammed shut on them and locked.

Sailor Moon rushed to the door and began frantically to pull on the handle, but it wouldn't budge. "Let us out of here!" Tuxedo Mask soon joined her and pulled with all his might. "Stand back," she ordered as she powered up her attack again. He complied, and watched as she threw her tiara at the door. "Moon Tiara...MAGIC!" Nothing happened, and it was starting to get really cold in there.

The monster cackled loudly and went up to the window on the freezer door. "Don't waste your energy. You'll never get out of there!"

Tuxedo Mask was getting ticked off at the monster's arrogance. He hurled his cane at the window, but it bounced off and landed on the ground by his feet. The monster only laughed again just as the freezer's blowers came on.

Sailor Moon clutched her arms tight around her in a feeble attempt to stay warm. She turned to check on Tuxedo Mask, and watched in shock as the gale of cold air from the blower he was standing over furiously whipped at his mask and hat. They both soon fluttered to the ground. He raised his eyes and slowly met hers.

Her arms went limp and fell to her sides as she stood there gaping as blasts of freezing air whipped her hair around her. "Oh my God," she said slowly. "Darien?"

"You guys look really worried," Andrew declared as he approached Serena's friends, with his girlfriend Rita slightly in tow. "What's wrong?"

Amy was furiously tugging at the hem of her dress to cover her legs better. The delicate blue satin would not budge and continued to cling to her figure flatteringly. She sighed and looked up at Andrew. "Serena was supposed to meet Lita and I earlier this afternoon to go shopping. We haven't seen her since school."

"Serena can be a major flake, never to be depended upon for anything," Raye said as she put her gloved hands to her hips. She had on a lovely, yet seductive red silk dress with a sheer purple wrap. She started to fiddle with the wrap nervously and the ends began to fray. "But she'd never be this late for anything."

"And there's no way she'd ever just forget about a party like this," Mina said as she began to pace slightly, her dress of orange lace and satin gently flowing behind her. "I'm really worried about her."

"That's funny," Rita piped up. "Neither Andrew nor I have heard from Darien all afternoon either. He was supposed to get here a little early to help get everything ready."

Lita's eyes misted and narrowed slightly at Rita. She never knew Andrew had a girlfriend! She sighed before she spoke. "I hope everything's okay with the both of them." Her face then took on a look of determination as she pretended to roll up the green chiffon sleeves that clung to her arms. She then smoothed down the green silk bodice and short skirt of her dress. "But let's try to enjoy ourselves anyway, okay?" She then took off to find another guy to swoon over.

The other four girls followed Lita. "Okay," replied Amy, still fussing over her skirt. "But if she doesn't show up, or if she doesn't call us soon, we should go and look for her." The other girls furiously agreed.

Sailor Moon shivered as she backed away from Tuxedo Un-masked. She didn't know what to think of Darien -- the biggest, most pompous, conceited jerk she had ever known -- as being the biggest crush she ever had. Even though the freezer's blowers were still on full blast, she managed to creep away from him. She had almost reached a comfortable distance from him, when she slipped and fell hard onto a chunk of frozen meat.

"Serena!" Tux...er, Darien cried in concern. She looked at him with a puzzled expression as he fought the blowers to get to her side and help her up. "Serena, are you okay?" He reached down and took her hand and helped her struggle to her feet. "Are you hurt?"

She looked up at him as confused tears began to cascade down her pale cheek. "I'm fine." She noticed how warn her hand had gotten. She looked down and saw that Darien had not let go of her yet.

"Serena," Darien's voice began to crack with emotion as he gently wiped her tears away. "Please don't cry like that."

Serena's cheeks still tingled warmly where Darien had touched her. She decided that since he was such an endless source of warmth, she'd put him to good use. She was buried deep in his arms' embrace before he knew what hit him.

He overcame his shock before he slowly enveloped her in his arms and cape to keep her as warm as he could. Soon, he could feel that his shirt was becoming slightly wet from Serena's tears. He marveled at the tremendous amount of warmth this petite and fragile creature carried with her. A small smile crept across his features as he tightened his embrace. "Shhh," he whispered into her hair as she continued to weep. "I'd rather hear you wail and call me a conceited jerk, Meatball Head." She jerked her head up and looked him in the eye with a sour look. He responded with a smirk. "There, that's better."

"What is the matter with you?" she cried as she balled up her little fists and began to hit him in the chest. "You'd pick a fight here when we're both gonna die?" A huge sob stuck in her throat as more tears poured down her face.

"No," he said very simply. He took one of her fists in his hand and laid her head back onto his chest as he began to stroke her hair. He was amazed how right this all felt. He never imagined how at ease he was with her. If circumstances had been different, he'd probably have been a basket case, and would have ended up pushing her further away from him. He held her tightly as sobs racked her small frame. "When you cry like this, it makes my heart break into a thousand pieces. But when you're wailing about being late for something, or because I made you lose the Sailor V game, it reminds me why I love you so much."

Serena caught her breath and stopped hitting him. "You love me?" she asked timidly.

Darien gasped. Did he just say that? 'Man, that was a dumb thing to say! Now she's gonna think you're crazy.'

"You're crazy to love me," she sighed.

'See? Wait a minute...' "Why would I be crazy to love you?"

"Because I'm such a careless, late, stupid, klutz who doesn't deserve to be with a guy like you," she replied. Darien could actually feel her deflate. "I mean look at you. You're a successful college student with a great job, a cool car, and girls practically fall over themselves to get at you."

That was the same thing that Andrew had said the day before. "I haven't met the right girl yet...until now. You may be late, and a bit of a klutz. I don't think you even know what the word careless means. You're friends mean more to you than anything else in the world, and I have seen you bend over backwards for every single one of them: Andrew, Lita, Amy, Mina, Raye, and that girl Molly...There has to be a ton of others that you care that much about. And even though I may tease you about it, you are not stupid."

She just shook her head slightly. "I don't get it. Why are you just now being so nice to me? And why couldn't I tell you were Tuxedo Mask?"

"For the same reason I couldn't tell you were Sailor Moon, probably." Serena raised her eyes up to his and mentally asked him to continue. "Because I was too busy being in love with the both of you. I gotta say, though," he added with a wink. "It's a huge relief not to have to worry about TWO meatball-headed girls anymore."

Serena's eyes went from extremely confused to extremely happy. 'He understands me! This so has to be too good to be true!' "Darien?" she asked softly.

He craned his neck and rested his forehead on hers. "Yes?"

"Do you really mean it?"

He chuckled slightly. "Of course I mean it, Meatball Head."

She laughed too. "Good! I just hope this isn't some kind of weird dream."

"Well, yeah," he added, still laughing. "Today has just been so perfect so far, right?"

Serena wrinkled her brow, and then put on a quirky grin. "You're kinda cute when you're sarcastic."

His laughter calmed down as he sighed happily. "I try." He then looked deep in her eyes and began to lower his face closer towards hers.

Here eyes grew wide as she realized what was happening. 'He's gonna kiss me...PINCH ME!' Ever so slowly, she turned her head upwards in response. She was dizzy with happiness as she felt his warm breath tickle her face, and he was feeling much the same.

Just as their aching hearts were about to be rewarded for the deep, pure feeling they both shared, one of the blowers' vents froze partially, sending a jet of freezing air blasting straight into them, toppling them over. Darien still had her in his protective hold, but he was receiving the most punishment from the cold. He shivered violently and tried talking to her through chattering teeth. "A...are y...you okay, S...Serena?"

"Forget about me," she cried as more tears threatened to fall. "You're gonna freeze to death!"

He smiled shakily and raised a trembling hand to her face to wipe the tears away. "That'll never happen," he said in a harsh whisper. "Because I love you, and I trust in you. I truly believe that we'll get out of this."

"Oh, Darien..." she whimpered as her communicator began to ring. She had forgotten she even had it. She reached for it and saw Sailor Mercury's worried face.

"Sailor Moon? Where the heck are you? Are you okay?"

"Mercury!" Serena cried happily. "You guys have to hurry! We're in real big trouble here!"

"Wait a minute," Sailor Mercury said in a confused voice. "We? And where's 'here' anyway?"

"I'm with Tuxedo Mask, and he's in trouble," Serena blurted out quickly. "There's no time to explain! Just get to the new butcher shop on Main Street pronto!"

Sailor Mercury nodded in response just as the reception fizzled out and the controls on Serena's communicator froze solid.

"My friends are gonna be here soon, Darien! You have to hold on!"

"I'll never let go, Serena," he whispered weakly as he smiled at her.  
  
Soon, there were sounds of battle, and a monster screaming in mortal agony coming from outside the freezer.

"SAILOR MOON?!" came Sailor Mars' desperate cry.

"IN HERE!" Serena shouted as loud as her near-frozen lungs could muster.

"They're in the freezer?" Sailor Venus asked.

"Sailor Moon," Sailor Jupiter cried. "Get away from the door!" Seconds later came her attack, "Jupiter Supreme Thunder...CRASH!" The door was blasted backwards on its hinges, and the Sailor Scouts came rushing to their friends.

Sailor Mercury paused long enough to shut of the blowers. "Hurry, get them out of here."

"God, they're frozen together!" Sailor Venus said as she, Mars, and Jupiter lifted the two captives and dragged them out of the freezer.

"Hey Mars," Sailor Jupiter asked. "Doesn't Tuxedo Mask look a lot like Darien?"

"That's because he IS Darien," Serena replied. Then she realized that he hadn't said much in the last few minutes. "Darien? Darien?!" Sailors Venus, Mars, and Jupiter set them down as Serena began to squirm too much to hold onto her. "Oh God, you said that you weren't going to die!" She collapsed onto his chest that still felt a bit warm. This gave her a little bit of hope. 'Oh well, who says that it always has to be the Prince that wakes the Princess with a kiss?' she thought as she wrapped her arms around his cold neck. She then lightly placed her lips upon his as s few stray tears slid down her face.

'It's so cold, yet...' Darien's subconscious said to him as he drifted along the line of life and death. 'This intense warmth. I like it. I want to hold onto this forever.' He drifted slowly back to consciousness and began to respond to Serena's kiss.

She gasped and drew back slightly as his eyes opened. She let out a happy cry as she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him for all she was worth. "Thank God! Oh Darien! Happy Valentine's Day! You were right, Muffin. Spending time with you wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be!"

Darien chuckled slightly as he wrapped his arms around her to return the affection. "Happy Valentine's Day to you too, Serena. Even if it's a slightly frosty Valentine."

The forgotten Sailor Scouts around them looked on with confusion and mute interest at the burning romance that seemed to have blossomed in the frigid bleakness of a near-death situation.


End file.
